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15 Countries This Year

12/19/18 | Travel, Year in Review

Today I am off on my last business trip of the year – a day trip to Amsterdam – and to say I am tired is an understatement but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  Between work and travel I have been to 15 countries this year – 10 were new to the list and five were repeats – and more than anything else, I also moved abroad.  And as I think it would be unfair to rank them, I have ordered the countries in the order that I visited: 

(1) The United Stats of America (residency):  I lived here until April and then moved across the pond but have been back a few times as well.  New York will always be home but it has been a great experience to live somewhere else for the last eight months and counting. 

One Day in New York City - Empire State Building Sunset from Top of the Rock

(2) France x2 – I visited in January for MLK day and again in October.  Paris is a beautiful place and now that I am only a three hour train ride away I expect quite a few more visits in 2019!

Postcards from Paris - Arc de Triomphe at Dusk

(3) Russia In the most unlikely layover I have ever had I went to Moscow in March on my way to a trip to England. I loved exploring Red Square, the Basiclla, and Kremlin.  It was freezing with snow everywhere but as you can tell from the picture below – it was the most beautiful clear-sky day which made all the difference. 

St Basils Cathedral in Red Square in Moscow

(4) England (residency) – From mid April to today I have lived in London  and have gone back and forth more times than I can count, thank goodness for my residency permit and Known Traveler (the UK version of Global entry).  I have only been out one weekend to explore the countryside but hope to do more next year. 

London Tourist Weekend - London Eye from Westminster Bridge

(5) Portugal – I went on a 5-day girls trip with my Mom to Lisbon, Sintra, and Porto and my only regret was that we did not have more time! I love exploring with my Mom and it was a wonderful mini-break, I will definitely be back! 

What to Do in Lisbon - Kelly at the Torre de Belem (Belem Tower)

(6) Bahamas – Having only moved to England a few weeks before it was a bit nuts that I flew all the way from London to the Bahamas but one of my oldest friends was getting married and I would not have missed it for the world. Plus, the sunshine was quite nice. 

Bahamas Wedding Weekend - Lyford Cay Beach Path

(7) Germany (x7)  I went for the first time in May and the last time last week – six trips were for work and one trip to Berlin for fun over the bank holiday in May.  There is so much more to the country than Berlin and Stuttgart and I am sure in 2019 I will have many more trips to explore!

Berlin Bike Tour - Kelly at the Brandenburg Gate

(8) Belgium – Over the Summer I jumped on a train one Friday after work to visits Brussels and Bruges, and loved all of the charm, the mix of languages, and the delicious food – see below. 

(9) Tanzania – If you have not explored my African Safari series thank you must go check it out – there were so many amazing places I went during my week in Tanzania in July and shots like the one below are only the tip of the iceberg.  

Tanzania Safari - Zebras in the Ngorongoro Crater

(10) Kenya – This was the second part of our two week African Safari and it was absolutely gorgeous to see so many incredible animals in real life – we had the best time on our family holiday, in face, a picture from this day is actually our Christmas card!

Best of Kenya Safari - Baby Elephant

(11) Netherlands (x5) – Twice for fun, three times for work (counting today) and it is such a charming city.  Having been in both the Winter and the summer, I highly recommend the Summer and am putting together my recommendations of the top things to do in the dutch capital. 

Kelly and Kevin in Amsterdam Netherlands - July 2018

(12) Morocco – An absolutely incredible experience to visit Northern Africa and during my time in Morocco I went to Casablanca, Marrakech, Ouarzazate, and spent time in the Sahara Dessert. 

Kelly Outside the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca

(13) Spain . – I went last year but a long weekend it Barcelona with my boyfriend and it was as a blast.  The reason you have not seen a blog post yet is because on the Morocco trip just before my DSLR broke in a sandstorm so my only photos from the October weekend were from my iPhone. 

Stained Glass in Barcelona

(14)  Scotland – I had to go to Scotland to present at a conference at St. Andrews for three days and added on two days in Edinburgh before  – I promise more photos will be coming soon! 

Edinburgh Scotland Castle

(15) Romania – A long weekend in Romania was a bit crazy to squeeze in at the start of December but I had planned it before all of my work trips to Germany.  There were two things I really wanted to do – see the castles in Trasnlyvania and explore the Christmas market in Bucharest, both of which were lovely! 

Sparkles and Shoes Bucharest Romania Christmas Market

There you have it – 15 countries for the year.  How many have you been to? 

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Comments

  1. TAMMY says

    December 24, 2018 at 8:21 am

    Wow. That is a lot of traveling. You been all over. Best trip got to be the African Safari. Boyfriend?? Congrats. We want to hear details on this. You should devote a blog post just on him. 😀😀. Hope you are enjoying Christmas with family in the Florida Sun.

  2. Lucy says

    December 21, 2018 at 4:48 am

    Wow, you have certainly seen a lot of the world this year and I can not wait to follow your travels in 2019!

  3. Emily says

    December 20, 2018 at 5:51 pm

    I still can not get enough of those baby elephants in your photos. So adorable.

    Boy you really did get around this year. Such varied spots too. You should be a travel writer. Love all of your spots.

  4. Linda Hilliard says

    December 20, 2018 at 7:43 am

    Wow, what a great recap and so fantastic you have had all these amazing opportunities to explore this wonderful world we live in!

  5. Jessica says

    December 19, 2018 at 5:13 pm

    You sure are a busy bunny.

    You probably need a new passport every three months at this rate. What fun you have.

  6. Samantha says

    December 19, 2018 at 12:20 pm

    This year only five so you have me by ten. I already have two planned for next year and one of those is to Portugal after reading your blog post. So looking forward to going and I booked the food tour that you and your mom went on.

    Have a great Christmas.

Hi, I am Kelly and welcome to Sparkles and Shoes, a fashion, travel, and lifestyle blog.  I am a New York City girl at heart but I moved to London in the Spring of 2018!

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